Hilton Athens

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Hilton Athens
Hilton Athens
Hilton Athens Located in the city center of Athens
Hotel chain	Hilton Hotels & Resorts
General information
Status	Open
Type	Hotel
Classification
Address	46 Vassilissis Sofias Avenue
Town or city	Athens
Country	Greece
Coordinates	37°58′36″N 23°45′01″E / 37.976554°N 23.750257°E / 37.976554; 23.750257
Opened	April 1963
Renovated	2003
Owner	Hilton Worldwide
Height	65m
Technical details
Floor count	15
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Hochtief
Other information
Number of rooms	506
Number of restaurants	3
Parking	Yes
Website
Hilton Athens website

Hilton Athens is a hotel in Athens, Greece. It is on Vassilissis Sofias Avenue within the Hilton Area, near Syntagma Square, the Kolonaki and Pangrati neighbourhoods, and other of central Athens’ main tourist attractions. The hotel stands opposite the National Gallery of Athens and Evangelismos station.^[1] The hotel has an on-site restaurant and bar which are also used as meeting places by local Athenians as well as visitors to the city.^[2][3][4] It has a spa and a 25m by 15m outdoor swimming pool.^[3][5][6]

History[]

The hotel officially opened on April 20th, 1963, as Athens' first international chain hotel. Conrad Hilton was present at the opening ceremony.^[2] Guests at the hotel have included Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, singer Frank Sinatra, director Ingmar Bergman and actor Anthony Quinn.^[2] Hilton Athens was the headquarters for the International Olympic Committee during the 2004 Summer Olympics. ^[7] In 2011 the organizing committee of the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games also took the hotel as their base of operations.^[8] The hotel hosted Athens’ first contemporary art gallery, the Hilton Gallery, in cooperation with Marilena Liacopoulou. From 1968 until 1972 the Hilton Gallery was responsible for various historical exhibitions. Nowadays the hotel displays artworks and invests regularly in lobby exhibitions of artists from Greece and abroad.^[2]

On December 14, 2021, the hotel's owners and Hilton Worldwide reached an agreement to comprehensively renovate Hilton Athens over the course of several years, with the intention of completing the works by 2024.^[9] When the hotel reopens, it will reduce its room inventory from over 500 rooms to 280, and will join Hilton's luxury Conrad Hotels brand as Conrad Athens. Rooms will also be converted into 50 residences, which will be sold under the Conrad Residences and Waldorf Astoria Residences brands.

Building[]

The Athens Hilton as seen from the neighbourhood of Pagrati.

The hotel was designed by a team of architects including Emmanuel Vourekas, Prokopis Vasileiadis, Anthony Georgiades and Spyro Staikos. Artist Yiannis Moralis, inspired by Greek themes, designed the reliefs of the building's façade.^[2]

The hotel was constructed in the post-war period between 1958 and 1963. The combination of classical and modernist elements incorporated into the hotel's exterior, with its mix of modern and traditional styles, caused disagreements^{[by whom?]} on architectural, urban planning, cultural and political issues.^[10]

Hilton in 1998

In 2003, anticipating the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Hilton Athens was renovated by Greek architects Alexandros Tombazis and Charis Bougadelis.^[2][6] The establishment was refurbished, and a new seven-storey northern wing was added. The completed new wing contains 74 rooms and suites, which add up to a total of 506 available hotel rooms. With its current 15 floors above ground, the building is 65 meters high.^[6]

References[]

External links[]

• Official Website